{"id":7069,"date":"2023-11-05T16:47:10","date_gmt":"2023-11-05T13:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/7069\/aidan-oconnell-ready-for-promotion\/"},"modified":"2023-11-05T16:47:10","modified_gmt":"2023-11-05T13:47:10","slug":"aidan-oconnell-ready-for-promotion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/?p=7069","title":{"rendered":"Aidan O&#8217;Connell ready for promotion as Raiders&#8217; starting QB"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Aidan O&#8217;Connell ready for promotion as Raiders&#8217; starting QB\u060c<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-meta\">\n<ul class=\"authors\">\n<li class=\"mugshot-shown\">\n<div class=\"author-img\"><\/div>\n<p>Paul Gutierrez, ESPN editor<span class=\"timestamp \">November 4, 2023, 10:00 a.m.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"author-overlay\">Close<\/p>\n<ul>Paul Gutierrez joined NFL Nation in 2013 and is the Las Vegas Raiders reporter.  He has a multi-platform role \u2013 writing on ESPN.com, television appearances on NFL Live and SportsCenter, as well as podcast and radio appearances.  Before joining ESPN, Gutierrez spent three years at CSN Bay Area as a multi-platform reporter, covering the Raiders and Oakland Athletics as well as host of the cable news show SportsNet Central.  Gutierrez votes for the Baseball Hall of Fame and is also a member of the Professional <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/football\/\"   title=\"Football\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">Football<\/a> Writers of America and currently serves as president of the Las Vegas chapter of the PFWA.  He is also a member of the California Chicano News Media Association and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.  Gutierrez is the author of three books: <i>Tales of Tommy Davis from the Dodgers dugout<\/i>, <i>100 Things Raiders Fans Should Know &#038; Do Before They Die<\/i>and if<i>These Walls Could Talk: Stories from the Raiders&#8217; sideline, locker room and press box<\/i>with Lincoln Kennedy.  You can follow Paul on Twitter @PGutierrezESPN<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>HENDERSON, Nev. \u2013 More than a few eyebrows were raised when quarterback Aidan O&#8217;Connell, a fourth-round draft pick last April, showed up for his first day with the Las Vegas Raiders wearing an ornate jersey of number 4. .<\/p>\n<p>After all, that&#8217;s the number carried for nine years by the franchise&#8217;s all-time leading passer, the polarizing Derek Carr, who now plays for the New Orleans Saints after a rough exit from Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, that&#8217;s the number I was given,\u201d O&#8217;Connell, who wore No. 16 at Purdue, said during training camp.  &#8220;I really don&#8217;t care what number I play with. I&#8217;ll play with any number. So I don&#8217;t worry too much about that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>So forgive Raiders fans if they experience a sense of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu on Sunday, when O&#8217;Connell makes his first career regular-season <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/start\/\"   title=\"start\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">start<\/a> at Allegiant Stadium against the New York Giants (4:25 p.m. ET, Fox).<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline editorial float-r\" data-behavior=\"article_related\">\n<h2 class=\"editorial-title\">Editor&#8217;s Choice<\/h2>\n<p>2 Related<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Indeed, it&#8217;s a new start for the Raiders, who fired general manager Dave Ziegler, coach Josh McDaniels and offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi as well as starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo this <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/week\/\"   title=\"week\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">week<\/a>.  They replaced them with interims Champ Kelly, Antonio Pierce and Bo Hardegree, respectively, and inserted O&#8217;Connell as the starting quarterback.<\/p>\n<p>That Hardegree, who has only called NFL exhibition games, and O&#8217;Connell, who started the Raiders&#8217; Week 4 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, embark on their respective futures together , is, as Hardegree said, \u201c<a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/exciting\/\"   title=\"exciting\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">exciting<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After all, Hardegree, who will call plays from the field, was the Raiders&#8217; quarterback coach before this week&#8217;s promotion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s the coach I\u2019ve spent the most time with here,\u201d O\u2019Connell said.  &#8220;He obviously runs our position meetings and then I&#8217;m around him a lot more. He&#8217;s been great for me since I got here in OTAs and rookie minicamp. He&#8217;s been very helpful in coaching me, learning, correcting myself, all the things I needed. So, I&#8217;m super excited for him too and for this opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>Hardegree, meanwhile, played quarterback at the University of Tennessee from 2004 to 2007 and has since coached at Duke and LSU before joining the NFL with the Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins, the New York Jets and the New England Patriots before coming to Las Vegas.  with McDaniels last season.<\/p>\n<p>So the challenge is fine-tuning an offense that is No. 31 in the NFL in total yards and 30th in points scored per game.  Especially by a player who has yet to call a play in a regular season game for a rookie quarterback with two career appearances.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline inline-photo full\">\n<figure><picture><source data- media=\"(min-width: 376px)\"><source data- media=\"(max-width: 375px)\"><img class=\" lazyload lazyload\" data-image-container=\".inline-photo\" height=\"320\" width=\"570\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"photoCaption\">Aidan O&#8217;Connell has played in two games, including one start, so far this season, but was named the Raiders&#8217; starting quarterback this week. <cite>Paul Sancya\/AP<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<p>&#8220;Changes [to the playbook] it would be a difficult thing;  it&#8217;s a short time,&#8221; Hardegree said. &#8220;The important thing is our players, and we just have to execute better, and I have to give them the ability to do that.  &#8230; I have confidence in all these guys and I have to put them in a good situation.  And I really believe it&#8217;s all about execution, and the answer is sitting in those chairs over there.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Hardegree, 39, was referring to Raiders players in general, and O&#8217;Connell in particular.<\/p>\n<p>O&#8217;Connell started when Garoppolo was out with a concussion and replaced Brian Hoyer in the Week 7 loss to the Bears when Garoppolo was sidelined with a back injury, completing 65.4% of his passes (34 of 52) for 313 yards, one touchdown pass and two interceptions.  He has a passer rating of 72.0, a total QBR of 7.6, and has also been sacked seven times and lost two of three fumbles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think experience is extremely valuable,\u201d O\u2019Connell said.  &#8220;I think the game reps are priceless and I&#8217;ve definitely learned a lot and I&#8217;ve got to take what I&#8217;ve learned and try to apply it in practice. And, again, that&#8217;s is also now a different challenge and a different team that we&#8217;re playing against. &#8230; So at the same time, you can think about it, but you have to take the challenge as it presents itself.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He has the support of his teammates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAidan is definitely a very consistent guy,\u201d said All-Pro receiver Davante Adams, who was targeted 13 times and caught eight passes for 75 yards from O&#8217;Connell.  &#8220;You watch it when we watch the tape &#8211; we watch it from the end zone copy &#8211; whether Jimmy or Brian is there, literally, simultaneously, he does [it].  Whether they&#8217;re passing the ball or faking it and getting into the play or whatever, you see him working on his craft and always ready to take his opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>So having that type of mentality as a young <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/man\/\"   title=\"man\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">man<\/a>, he could obviously sit back, but the way he works on his body, all the things like that, it&#8217;s a lot more mature than what I have seen from the start. Quarterback of a year. &#8230; So, that&#8217;s a recipe for success.<\/p>\n<p>Adams also supported Hardegree as a playcaller.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline float-r inline-track\">\n<h2 class=\"img-title\">The best of NFL Nation<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-lazyload=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Chiefs-or-Dolphins-Picking-the-better-Tyreek-Hill.jpg\" class=\"round lazyload\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u2022 CHOOSE the best Tyreek Hill<br \/>\u2022 Can Hill or Brown catch Megatron?<br \/>\u2022 5 questions ahead of Eagles-Cowboys<br \/>\u2022 Vikings focus on preparing Hall<br \/>\u2022 Did Seattle hit HR with Williams?<br \/>\u2022 OBJ still looking for Ravens&#8217; first TD<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t see us reinventing our offense,\u201d Adams said after a one-catch game in Detroit.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I see us maybe expanding our playbook a little more and tweaking a few things based on what we see on tape. But for the most part, I like what we have in [the playbook] right now, and I can support Bo any day.  He&#8217;s a good, smart football mind, and obviously being coached by Josh, you&#8217;re going to learn a lot of things and be able to understand how to set up the game.  So, I&#8217;m looking forward to that for him.  \u00bb<\/p>\n<p>The feelings are mutual.  It doesn&#8217;t matter what number O&#8217;Connell wears these days.  Because as he said at camp, the fact that he wore number 4 had nothing to do with superstition, or that the number was the square root of his <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/college\/\"   title=\"college\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">college<\/a> number 16.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, none of that,\u201d he laughed at the time.  \u201cI\u2019m not very good at math.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Raiders&#8217; interim regime is counting on him to be better at football.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aidan O&#8217;Connell ready for promotion as Raiders&#8217; starting QB\u060c Paul Gutierrez, ESPN editorNovember 4, 2023, 10:00 a.m. Close Paul Gutierrez joined NFL Nation in 2013 and is the Las Vegas Raiders reporter. He has a multi-platform role \u2013 writing on ESPN.com, television appearances on NFL Live and SportsCenter, as well as podcast and radio appearances. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7070,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4686,4687,4688,1669,857,4567],"class_list":["post-7069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-sports","tag-aidan","tag-oconnell","tag-promotion","tag-raiders","tag-ready","tag-starting"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7069"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7071,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7069\/revisions\/7071"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}